Page 121 of Born into Mayhem

“Don’t worry. He made that very clear when he first found out about us.”

“He’s a good brother,” Lev says.

“He is,” I agree, because as fucked in the head as he is, I breathe easier knowing he’s always going to be an extra set of eyes on Mia.

After I take another drink, I say, “I’m not crazy about her joining the Bratva, but I’m not going to try and stop her.”

Lev’s soft laugh fills the space between us. “That’s funny if you ever thought you had a chance at stopping Mia from doing something she wants. I guess she’ll set you straight on that one soon enough.”

“Yeah, I’m slowly learning. What are you going to have her do?”

Lev turns his head to look at me. The outside lights are off, but the moon is bright enough for me to see the piercings, the tight line of his lips, and the pale blue eyes when he says, “That’s Bratva business, Dario. You know that.”

“You know I can’t accept that answer. Stepping aside so she can do this is one thing, but being completely in the dark is another. That’s not going to work for me.”

“No?”

I hear the amusement in his voice and choose to ignore it when I say, “We need to work something out, come to an agreement of some kind.”

He takes another drink, making me wait several minutes before he finally says, “I’ll talk to the others, see what we can come up with.”

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t say it would lead to anything,” he warns, “but I’ll try.”

“I want to marry her soon. I don’t want to wait, and I’d like your blessing.”

Instead of answering me, he asks, “Did you really get a vasectomy?”

“Sandro can’t keep his fucking mouth shut,” I mutter.

“Yeah, I have a brother like that,” Lev says, and we both know he’s talking about Vitaly. “Is it true?”

“It is.”

“I thought the doctor said she couldn’t get pregnant,” he says, and I hear the pain in his words, knowing it still hurts him to think about it.

“He said the chances were slim, not impossible, but that there was no way Mia could carry a baby. It’s too dangerous, so I did what needed to be done to make sure it never happens.”

I see him nod from the corner of my eye before he takes another long drink. “Thank you,” he finally says. “Thank you for sparing her that kind of pain.”

“I would do anything for her,” I tell him, meaning every single word.

Turning to face me, he says, “I’ve learned a lot from running this Bratva with my brothers and now my son and nephews, but raising daughters has proven to be more challenging than anything else. My first instinct is to beat the living shit out of you for daring to put your hands, your mucholderhands on my baby girl, but I can’t do that because Mia loves you, and to hurt you is to hurt her, which is something I’m incapable of doing.”

I don’t say anything, so he sighs and says, “I’m not getting any younger. I have a wife that I love who continues to amaze me and knock me on my ass, three kids and two grandkids and they’re everything to me. Life is too fucking short, Dario, and I’m not going to let this destroy my family.”

“I don’t want to destroy anything,” I tell him. “You and I both know that no one was ever going to be good enough in your eyes to marry Mia. At least now you’re getting a guy who’s pretty decent with a knife and familiar with the lifestyle she was raised in. I can keep her safe.”

I swear I see the glint of his piercing as he raises a brow at me.

“That was a one-time thing,” I say, unable to hide the anger in my voice at the fuck-up I made that nearly cost me everything. “It will never fucking happen again.”

He nods and says, “I fucked up once too, and Jolene paid the price for it. I’ll never forget seeing her after her brother had beaten the shit out of her.”

His body visibly tenses, and it takes him a second before he can speak again, but when he does, it feels a lot like an olive branch.

“I felt the same way you do now, and it’s that fear, that determination to never see the woman you love bleed again that will ensure my daughter’s safety.” He holds his hand out to me and says, “You have my blessing, Dario, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t happy that I have no more daughters for you Alessi bastards to steal.”